Roses are Red
by Serpentira
Summary: A HollyArtemis oneshot. After TOD. Holly stops by Fowl Manor, and gets a plesant surprise.


**This a little Artemis/Holly fic I wrote for Valentine's Day. I did it mainly because I could, and it worked.

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It was harder for Holly to get above ground now that she was a civilian. Luckily for her Foaly had gotten permission for her to test a prototype of his new wing design. She could only assume that someone up there liked her because he would have had to go higher than Sool for that. She sighed, and let all her troubles melt away as she headed to Fowl Manor. It would be good to see Artemis in person after so many months of only seeing him via a fairy communicator, besides, they did have some work to do.

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She hovered, shielded, above his windowsill watching him for a moment as he typed. Peering intently at the screen she could only make out the heading, "Dear Holly." She raised a hand, unshielded, and tapped on the glass.

Artemis looked up sharply and hastily closed down the e-mail program before he opened the window. "Holly, come in," he said and then added, "this is unexpected," as she entered the room.

"Foaly got permission for me to test his new wing design so I thought I'd drop by," she explained.

"Ah," he said, and then silence descended.

It was Holly who spoke first, "So, how are things for you?"

"The same as usual, mostly. Mother and Father have taken the week off, and Juliet is still in the U.S.A. Butler is here, of course, and school is still a waste of time," he sighed.

"We caught the latest thief, " she told him consolingly.

"That is good," he answered, but he seemed distracted. She watched him as he stood there in the lamplight.

He wasn't as pale as he had been when they had first met, and he was starting to bulk up now that Butler was training him in self-defense. He was actually rather handsome now. She sighed. She'd been noticing that about him more and more often now and she wasn't sure of what to do about it, or if she even wanted to do anything about it.

The silence hung there until she broke it again to ask, "Artemis, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said, but they both knew that wasn't true. She watched him closely, something wasn't right, and then it hit her. He seemed scared, but what could he possibly be scared of? The silence continued and he almost squirmed under her gaze. Finally, he reached under his desk and pulled something out.

Handing it to her he said nervously, "Happy Valentine's Day." She stared. It was a bouquet, of twelve red roses.

"Artemis, I, how?" she was shocked but delightfully so, maybe, just maybe…

He looked embarrassed as he answered, "Foaly told me you were coming above ground. I just hoped, " he shrugged. "I tried writing a letter but…" he trailed off and she watched him thoughtfully.

Stepping towards him she whispered, "Happy Valentine's Day," and kissed him gently. It might have been a short kiss, if he hadn't wrapped his arms around her pulling her closer and deepening the kiss. She didn't stop him.

When they broke apart he stepped back blushing furiously. She laid the roses down on his desk and stepped forward and kissed him again.

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She left shortly before dawn kissing him gently on the cheek before strapping on the wings. She made good time and was back in Haven before the sun had risen. No one asked about the flowers, not even Foaly when she returned the wings. When she got home she was already planning her next visit.

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Artemis lay in bed, savoring the warmth that Holly had left behind, and the faint tingling on his cheek where she'd last kissed him. A part of him still couldn't believe that last night had been real but the general peace, among other things, reminded that it had been very real indeed.

Sunrise found him wrapped in a robe and typing on his laptop. After several revisions of the e-mail he had started the night before, and deleting things like, "After last night I know that the feeling is mutual," and, "I trust that the roses survived the journey to Haven," he finally sent the e-mail.

It was written in a flowing cursive script and read simply,

"_Roses are red,_

_Violets are blue,_

_But nothing in this world,_

_Is more beautiful than you._"

He smiled, he knew she'd understand.

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**Hope you liked it. _Happy Valentine's Day!_**


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